Career Counselling in Southampton

This story tells you why career career counselling and coaching really worked big time for Michael Schaefer...

Pre-Simon

I was a self-employed interim and bemoaning the effort required to develop business and capture the next sale or the next assignment. Something was clearly amiss… and needed to be changed or improved but I wasn’t sure what, and that was causing major problems…

Post-Simon

Simon delivered and, boy, did he deliver big! I’ve now moved from the interim world to the top of the corporate ladder in a permanent role that is perfectly suited to me and me to it, the organisation and the people. Simon made it happen – or as he says, I did. But we in our family know the truth: Simon is genius.

Read Michael’s full story…

Making the decision to hire a coach for business or career is a personal one and it seems most people I know consider it a sign of weakness. However, the people I know that do have a coach are, in the main, either at the highest level of the corporate ladder or successfully self-employed.

Once you’ve made that decision – I believe every ambitious business man or woman should – I suppose your particular situation then drives the type of coach you should engage.

In my case, I was a self-employed interim and bemoaning the effort required to develop business and capture the next sale or the next assignment.

Also, there are many elements and moving parts to the process of getting that next assignment. On one hand, it was clear to me that certain elements I was doing quite well, while on the other hand something was clearly amiss. Something needed to be changed or improved but I wasn’t sure what, and that thing was causing major problems.

Having read many of Simon’s other testimonials, I know that he excels in a variety of situations for his clients and those speak for themselves. Some of those didn’t apply to me. In my case, Simon helped me discover those particular areas of business development (i.e. looking for a job) that were letting me down.

Indeed, if you’re in a similar situation you could not find a better person. Simon’s approach goes to the heart of who you are as a person and that includes family. In the case of our family – my wife and my teenage son – we all hold Simon in very high regard.

After a period of self-discovery, we worked on the relevant areas and built them up in a way that gave me the confidence to know when I was and was not doing things correctly.

By helping me better understand myself we developed a genuine profile of who I was – not a bunch of jargon or mumbo-jumbo – and then targeted that against the types of businesses, sectors, roles and situations that were most relevant to me. Followed by a little bit of polishing on message, approach and technique, I was off.

As I progressed I became self-aware of my mistakes – half the battle – and I knew what I had to do to improve. I improved so much that I became quite good and even started to enjoy myself! With Simon as my coach, everything was working in spades.

In a weird way, the strangely sad thing is that it’s now all over. At least for a while. Simon delivered and, boy, did he deliver big! I’ve now moved from the interim world to the top of the corporate ladder in a permanent role that is perfectly suited to me and me to it, the organisation and the people. And the prospects are excellent. While it may be a little early to tell, I am loving it and we're all very happy.

Simon made it happen – or as he says, I did. But we in our family know the truth: Simon is genius.

He’s also both a very nice man and fun to be with, and, luckily, does in-job coaching too. I’m looking forward to our next session.

Michael Schaefer

My career counselling and coaching service is one of a kind and I want to show you why.